Black Tennis Pros

INDIAN WELLS, CA - MARCH 16: Lukas Dlouhy of the Czech Republic and Leander Paes of India play Juan Martin Del Potro and David Nalbandian of Argentina at the BNP Paribas Open at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 16, 2009 in Indian Wells, California.

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Sorry to see American Angela Haynes have to make her exit in the third round, she's put in the work on this one. Angela prevailed in the qualifying rounds to reach the main draw and has been playing well.

I was definitely concerned when I saw that she was scheduled to play Italian Flavia Pennetta. Pennetta can be a force to be reckoned with on any given day. Although Angela was able to take the first set off of Pennetta, she wasn't able to mount enough game to hold on through the next two sets. Pennetta took the win 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Hopefully we'll be seeing more of Angela in upcoming tour tournaments.

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Maaaan!

While you can't win 'em all, you can at least 'act' like you want to be there. American James Blake lumbered around the court with the appearance of very little interest in the match, especially in the second set. He played as if it was a foregone conclusion that he would lose. Something smacked the fight right out of Blake today; and it wasn't Chilean Fernando Gonzalez.

Gonzalez definitely played well, but he didn't present anything Blake hasn't previously faced. The 7-5, 6-1 defeat sounds as if he took Blake to the woodshed, not so. Blake wasn't available to be taken to the woodshed, he was out to lunch somewhere.

This is Blake's 7th straight loss to Gonzalez.

“I think my serve was a big difference,” said Blake. “I think I probably got about two, maybe three free points, in the whole second set on the first serve wasn't coming in. And when it was coming in, it wasn't hitting its spot. If I'm not getting any free points off of that, and he's as confident as he was playing after winning that first set, then it's going to be tough for me.”

"This was just a bad day, it hurts. It makes me want to get back on the practice court."

Perhaps our dear Mr. Blake needs a mini vacay. Oops, he took one today.

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Where oh where is Benjamin Sisko?


Jean-Luc Picard?


Yes good people, I am a Trekkie - and proud of it!!

However, I'm not sure that I'm feeling this latest movie. The need to appeal to a "new" audience may have corrupted the integrity of my space peeps. We'll see.

Here's the latest trailer:

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Wow... I totally didn't see this coming.

In second round play at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California today, world no. 9 Gael Monfils of France was ousted by American John Isner, currently ranked at world no. 147. Isner defeated Monfils 7-6(5), 6-1, 6-4.

Monfils did not muster much defense or offense as Isner did not face any break points on serve, and broke Monfils three times in the one hour, 58 minute match.

This is the first time that Isner will advance to the third round of the BNP Paribas Open.

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Alright, I usually give people the benefit of the doubt, but not this wacky chick. At what point in history was there a 'king' or 'queen' of "Black-American tennis," other than in this chick's mind.

And when was there this "Black-American tennis?" And how do you play it?

If you read Black Tennis Pro's on the regular, you will note that while I highlight Black tennis professionals, tennis is tennis. There is no White tennis, or Black tennis... it's tennis. Now the distinction comes with the fact that we have players of a multitude of ethnic backgrounds. How that background has affected their participation in the sport of tennis is where I come in.

This interview on ESPN, under the guise of 'Black History Month,' clearly was seeking to get Zina Garrison to speak to her lawsuit against the USTA, and in doing so the lead in was about this "Black-American tennis."

As an African-American learning to play tennis at a predominately White high school, I came to know and love the sport of tennis, not Black tennis - but tennis. A sport dominated by White players yes, but still... tennis.

Why are people who don't know a damn thing about a sport allowed to conduct interviews as such?

Yet one more thing to make you go hmmmm?

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In what was otherwise routine first and second round play at a tennis tournament, American James Blake and Finland's Jarkko Niemenen played a match worthy of a quarterfinal in second round play at the the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California.

In a match that went back and forth with Blake winning the first set 6-3 and Niemenen the second set 6-7(6), Blake ramped up his play and took Niemenen out in the third set 6-3.

It was well worth staying up for the length of the match.

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While the Clinton and Palin comics are already on their second printings, their publisher believes Obama will be an even bigger seller. Distributors have stopped taking orders temporarily while Washington-based Bluewater Productions catches up with the demand.

"I feel like the guy who invented the Furby," Bluewater President Darren Davis said. "The reaction has been insane."

The Obama comic, which will be officially released April 25 and will sell for $3.99, shows the first lady growing up in her middle-class South Shore home, attending Princeton and helping her husband become president. In keeping with the upbeat tone of the "Female Force" series, the Obama edition does not mention any controversial speeches or fist bumps.

Obama does not possess any superpowers in the comic, but the cover depicts her in a sleeveless top that highlights the most famous arms in Washington.

The 22-page comic also avoids any illustrations of Malia or Sasha Obama, a decision the publisher made to steer clear of the controversy surrounding the Ty Girlz dolls created in the sisters' image earlier this year.

"We wanted to be respectful to all the women in the series," Davis said. "They've really done amazing things in their lives."

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